Taliban
remain unjustly in power, according to Afghan women activists
Despite
a statement by thousands of male clerics praising the Taliban's hardline
regime, Afghan women activists claimed Sunday that the Taliban still have no
right to rule.
Following
a three-day gathering that failed to address contentious matters including
teenage females' freedom to attend school, the clerics swore fealty to the
Taliban and its reclusive commander on Saturday.
Since
taking control last August, the Taliban have attempted to portray the meeting
as a support for their idea of a wholly sharia-compliant Islamic state.
They
insisted last week that only their sons and husbands would represent women at
the gathering, which was attended by almost 3,500 men.
According
to Hoda Khamosh, a rights activist who is currently living in exile in Norway,
"statements made or pledging allegiance to the Taliban in any meeting or
function without the presence of half the nation's population, the women, are
not acceptable."
"This
meeting lacks authority, validity, or public support," the statement
reads.
Since
retaking power in August, the Taliban has imposed draconian restrictions on
Afghans, particularly women, through its rigorous application of sharia law.
Secondary
school girls have been denied access to education, and women have been
prohibited from holding public office, restricted from taking alone trips, and
instructed to wear attire that covers everything but their faces.
The
Taliban have also made it illegal to play secular music, forced TV networks to
stop airing dramas and movies with naked women, and instructed men to wear
traditional clothing and grow beards.
A
handful of women's organisations in Kabul also denounced the clerics' meeting
as unrepresentative.
The
organiser, Ainoor Uzbik, told AFP following a press conference that "the
Ulema (clerics) are simply one element of society, they are not the
whole."
"The
choices they make are not in the best interests of the nation and its citizens;
they are solely designed to advance their own interests. Neither the statement
nor the agenda included anything for women.
The
collective claimed in a statement that men similar to the Taliban have before
maintained total control, but generally only for a brief period before being
ousted. The only action Afghans can do, according to Uzbik, is to speak up and
urge that the international community exert pressure on the Taliban.